Insomnia
by fanficaddict200
Summary: One-shot. Red-X can't sleep. I think you know why. Story better than summary, I promise.


**My first oneshot ever. I'm so excited. I'm probably more excited for this than I was when I started the other story. Mostly because it's harder to write a oneshot than a multi-chap fic. Hope you enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: NOT MINE. You should really know this by now. The 'song' is really a nighttime love poem called Whispers In The Night by James L. McHenry. I just found it randomly on the Internet. **

Red-X couldn't sleep.

It wasn't all that unusual.

He often couldn't sleep.

Nightmares had plagued him for years.

But that wasn't why he couldn't sleep tonight.

He couldn't sleep because of the girl currently wrapped around him.

The only bad thing about sharing a bed with Raven was her unconscious desire to cuddle. It got really hot sometimes. He once had a nightmare that he was on fire because of her. But he wouldn't give it up for the world. His lips twitched as she buried her head further into the crook of his neck. Her fingers slowly traced the contours of his chest before resting on his arm.

"Whaths wong...?" she asked sleepily. He chuckled. Did she have to be so cute when she was sleepy?

"Nothing. Go back to sleep."

Rather than listen to him, she lazily propped herself up on one of her elbows to look at him. The purple sheets concealed most of her lithe, naked form. One pale, cream colored leg slid in-between his. Moonlight filtered in through a slit in the curtains making her eyes sparkle. Purple hair in complete disarray sounded like a nightmare, but to him she never looked more beautiful. A feather light touch to his face brought him out of his musings.

"Are you sure?" she yawned.

The concern etched on her features made his breath catch. No matter how many times she worried for him it was still a pleasant surprise every time.

He nodded. "I'm fine. No nightmares. Just regular old insomnia"

She eyed him warily.

"I can stay up if you'd like. It's not a problem."

"It's just insomnia, love. I don't need..." He stopped when he realized what he'd just said.

Hurt flashed in her eyes before she could hide it. Not that she could hide it from him anyway. He knew her far too well for that.

"Whatever. It's not like I care whether you get to frickin' sleep or not..."

"Rav-"

Raven turned away from him with a sniffle. "Goodnight"

One of Raven's biggest fears was that he'd find someone better than her and not need her anymore. It was an insecurity, that rarely reared it's ugly head. But when it did, he had to be careful what he said or he'd end up with a black eye.

Both of his arms held Raven close to him so he could whisper in her ear "You know I didn't mean it that way, baby. I'm sorry. I don't want you to lose sleep over something normal. There wasn't a nightmare, I swear"

Raven lay stiffly in his arms contemplating his words.

Then with a huff, she laid her head on his chest and wrapped her arm loosely around his waist.

"Promise?"

"Promise"

"And Raven?"

"Hmmm...?"

"I'll always need you"

Raven placed a soft kiss to his forehead.

"Thank you"

"Now sleep"

"I don't want..."

"I'll be okay. Go to sleep. You know you're tired"

Raven opened her mouth to object yet again, however, his determined gaze stopped her. There was no way she was going to win this argument.

She shot him a glare when he smirked.

"Fine. But if I find out you're lying to me, you're not allowed in my bed tomorrow night"

He snorted. "Like you can sleep without me"

Raven didn't answer. She must have already fallen asleep. He was glad. Whenever he had a nightmare she stayed up with him until he fell asleep again or until he had to leave. Unfortunately it was usually the latter and she was often sleep-deprived. It was normal for Raven not to sleep, but he slept even less than she did. Although it was funny to watch her doze over her book, drool all over her cheek, and arms twisted in weird angles he felt bad that she had to risk her team finding out about them because he had some psychological issues he couldn't seem to get over. So he'd let her sleep tonight.

She deserved that much.

He pulled her closer to him even though she was practically glued to his side.

The clock on her desk across the room said it was 4 a.m. He'd have to leave soon. Robin got up at 5:30 to train. And he always did a heat signature scan when he awoke. As much as Red-X wanted to be angry at him for being so paranoid he couldn't be. It kept Raven safe. Right now he couldn't always be there for her when there was trouble. If a heat signature check kept her out of harms way then it was alright by him.

"Pretty clingy tonight. Sure it was just regular old insomnia?" Raven muttered. He knew getting her to sleep was too easy.

He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Yes. I'm sure"

"I love you"

He closed his eyes and laid his head on top of hers. "Jason Peter Todd. If you do not say it back so help me god I will..."

"I love you too, drama queen"

"You better"

He rolled his eyes. "This is not helping me get to sleep any faster"

"That's what we were trying to do?"

"Oh no, Raven. I've been awake 4 days straight and I'm totally fine with that"

"Was that sarcasm I just heard?"

"The answer to your question would just be more sarcasm, you realize that right?"

"Smart-ass"

"I'm glad you noticed. I try very hard to make sure my ass is intelligent"

"Uhh..We can argue tomorrow. Go to sleep"

"That's my line"

"_Sleeeeep"_

"Will you sing for me?"

It was silent. One of the many things only he knew about her was that she had a beautiful singing voice. She only sang if she was with him. No one else had the privelege. But it was rare for her to sing to him when she was tired. She complained that it took too much effort.

_Listen carefully, open your heart, for my Whispers In The Night_

_Touching your soul, ever so gently, making you glow so bright_

_I come to you, through a warm breeze, feel me on your face_

_Your beautiful glow, lights my world, blessed with Gods sweet grace_

_Hear the birds sing, a special love song, up in the tree_

_In through your ears, a soft melody, just for you from me_

His eyes fluttered closed as she sang. Her voice was light and airy. Almost aloof. He loved when she sang happy little ditties. When they were alone at his apartment she'd dance around in a tank top and jean shorts singing at the top of her lungs. If he didn't have soundproof walls he'd surely have gotten complaints by now. Thought he knew if they took a second to really listen they'd let her be because she had the voice of an angel.

Without even realizing it he began to drift off.

_I close my eyes, I think of you, I see your pretty face_

_You touch my soul, you love my heart, you make me glow so bright_

_In through my ears, I listen for, Your Whispers In The Night..._

"I really do love you, Raven" he murmured.

"I know. Now go to _sleep" _

And he did.

For a moment Raven watched him. The steady rise and fall of his chest made her smile. His warm breath fanned her skin. The lines that creased his brow were smoothed out. When he was awake it sometimes made him look like was brooding. It also drove the girls wild. She couldn't remember how many girls had tried flirting with him while she was RIGHT there. It pissed her off to no end. He thought it was rather funny and loved to see her get all possessive. But if some guy tried to flirt with her it was an immediate punch in the face.

Shaking her head Raven stroked the side of his face tenderly. She wished she could help with the dreams that plagued him so. It had gotten **a lot** better since they started spending the night together. He used to go three weeks to a month with only 9-10 full hours of sleep. She didn't include the little naps he took. Now he slept almost like a normal person. Almost 7 full hours a night. But he still had his bad nights like tonight. However, he now didn't have black circles under his eyes so she knew they were making more progress than was visible.

A look at the clock told her it was 4:30 now. One more hour left in his arms. She wished she didn't have to sneak around her friends' backs. Everytime one of them smiled at her or asked if she was okay when she looked as if she was dead on her feet her gut twisted. There had been several times that she had managed to gather the courage to tell them. But Jason wasn't ready yet.

He said it was because she couldn't be sure if they'd be okay with it yet. And she had to be 100% sure before she told them. From the fear in his eyes when she would brought it up she could tell it was really that he was terrified they'd try to take her away from him.

He should know she'd never let that happen.

It was hard not being able to tell anybody. All the other Titan's girls had boyfriends. But they were all Titans as well. If she was dragged along to one of their 'Girls Day' or forced to hold a Girls Movie Night in her room that's all they would talk about. What Wally said, what Robin did, the prank Beast Boy pulled. It took all of her willpower not to just blurt something about Jason out. And it was worse on the days they started talking about her.

_Flashback_

_'Okay. I know the boys have been driving us crazy lately, but now we need to put our troubles aside to help our friend. Raven, when are you going to let someone take you out?' Bee asked._

_Raven stiffened. She had been fine when they'd just ignored her. She had been having a very pleasant conversation with Jason via text. As all eyes turned to her she quickly deleted all the messages and tossed the phone onto the floor. _

_'For the hundreth time I do not need you guys to try and find me a boyfriend' she said. This subject was trying her patience, but her voice gave nothing away. Only Jason was subjected to her emotions. _

_'Yes you do. It'd be nice if you could actually participate in our discussions for once' Jinx shot back._

_'Oh yes, Friend Raven. It would be wonderful if you could partake in the girl talk' Starfire exclaimed._

_Terra nodded in agreement._

_Raven sighed. She hated when they ganged up on her this way. She knew they meant well and felt terrible that she couldn't tell them about Jason. Her lips twitched at the thought of him. Before it could blossom into a full on grin she reminded herself of what company she was in._

_'Looks like Raven's already got a guy in mind!'_

_Squeals of 'Ooooh! Really?' and 'Who is it?' made Raven groan in annoyance. _

_'There is no guy. I just think it's funny how hung up you guys are on my love life'_

_Terra snorted. 'I don't really care. I've got a bet with Gar and if you don't get a boyfriend by the end of next month then I lose 50 bucks'_

_Raven simply rolled her eyes. _

_'What about that guy at that bookshop you make so many frequent visits to?' Raven's heartbeat sped up 'Do not tell me you go there and don't check out the cute guy who works the register' Jinx chimed in._

_Raven took a deep breath. She was sure Jinx was on to her._

_'I do not need a boyfriend nor do I want one. And even if I did I am perfectly capable of finding one myself, thank you'_

_She grabbed the Les Mis. book from her bureau and presently ignored them._

_But for quite a long time she was the subject of their conversation._

_'Why does Friend Raven not wish to have a boyfriend? I am sure it would make her most happy'_

_'Right? That girl needs to loosen up and a man is just the thing to do it'_

_'I'm sure it would turn that frown upside down. You guys think we'd actuallly see her really __**smile**__ for once?' _

_'I said a man. Not a miracle worker'_

And it went on and on and on. If only they knew she already had the most amazing guy in the world. It wasn't just that she was bothered constantly about getting one, she wanted to be able to show him off in front of her friends. Not be interrupted when she spent obscene amounts of time in her room. Smile all the time and not be questioned. She shook her head. Now was not the time to think about this. Jason would have to leave soon. She should savor all the time she had with him.

For the moment this was just going to have to be enough.

Unlike Jason she could fall asleep rather quickly if she wanted to. Almost as an after thought she kissed him on the cheek.

"Love you too, babe" she mumbled.

And then it was quiet.

**First One-Shot completed! Very proud. Ending sucks, but you know what can you do. I did this one with Jason Todd as Red-X. Google him if you don't know who he is. Peter is his real middle name. For this just imagine Jason and Raven got together a while ago and this is one night when they're alone. I'm thinking of doing a series of one-shots surrounding them. So I might do how Raven got coerced into such a relationship or how/ if she tells the other Titans. Once again Terra, Bee, and Jinx are in this dating the same people as always. I just love those pairings so much so excuse me for not being able to resist the urge to slip them in. **

**Love,**

**fANficAddict200**


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